Snatches of a Mischievous Grandfather
by Primsong
Summary: A collection of drabbles for the incomparable First Doctor and his companions. Come along, now, come along.
1. The Farmer's Wife

_Being close to the earth wasn't necessarily what she'd wanted._

**The Farmer's Wife**

Susan yanked on the cow's udder, screaming her furstration into its coarse, brown flank. Milk streamed into the bucket, dripped from her fingers. The beast didn't even flinch, long ago used to these early-morning hysterics, when this slow, hardscrabble world pressed in, when David's aging hands more and more were forced to leave the chores to his still-young wife.

Hoarse and spent, Susan finally stripped the last of the milk and turned the cow out into the yard. The bucket sloshed heavy in her hands; above her the dark sky white-spattered with an eternity of unreachable stars.


	2. A Particular Word

What was that she said? I love the way One fluffs his lines. From the prompt _susurration (a whisper)_

**A Particular Word**

"Doctor, what happened?" Ian cried. He ran to where Barbara lay, limp and unresponsive upon the alien soil.

The Doctor looked cautious. "I'm not sure, my boy. I merely heard her fall. She said she heard something, a sound, just before she fainted."

"Heard something? What did she hear?" Ian cradled Barbara's head, looking alarmed.

"It was a most unusual choice of word, but she was very particular about it. She said it was a sussur, sussurash, sususurra, sussuph…hum, hm."

"What?"

"A susu… sustipation? No…susrash…susu… oh what was that now?"

"Susurration?" asked Ian.

"What's that? Don't whisper at me, Chesterton!"


	3. Too Long in a Cage

_Later expanded into a set of four vignettes._

**Too Long in a Cage: the beginning**

He slid along the corridors, clutching his granddaughter's hand. Just one more dash and they would be free.

He scowled his defiance at the Time Lords passing judgement upon him. What did those pompous clip-winged popinjays know of freedom?

One more attempt with the wiring, one more experiment with the dematerialization codes. His hands slammed down onto the worktable with frustration, captured and caged without bars.

All the worlds through all of time opened up before him. Giddy, laughing with the delight of it, he found no threat of doom or destruction could touch that joy. Not even them.

At last.


	4. Lyre Lyre

A snippet of One in _The Romans_, when his musical expertise is found a bit wanting.

**Lyre, Lyre**

"Maximus! Play for me!" commanded Nero.

The Doctor adjusted his toga and picked at the late Maximus' lyre. He tried to remember if the tale of the Emperor's New Clothes had been the Brothers Grimm or Aesop. If European, his ruse would work. If Greek, most likely not.

Someday, he thought as he flourished the lyre, I ought to learn an instrument - something portable. A flute, perhaps.

But for now would they believe that only those who were not fools would hear it?

He plucked melodic nothingness and their pride provided the tune.

--


	5. Bluebox

_One with Ian and Barbara - sometimes his legends just outran him a little bit._

**Bluebox**

"Bluebox! Bluebox!" chanted the natives as the TARDIS doors tenatively opened to them.

"Ooooooh! Ahhhhhhh!" came cries and shrieks as the Doctor stuck his head out to consider them. Some timid ones fainted away in sheer astonishment that they'd lived to see this day.

He poked one with his walking-stick. "Here now, what's this, hm?"

Ian grinned. "I'd say it looks like you've been here before."

"Yes, well, I'll have to remember that. Barbara! Keep the coordinates from that readout there. No, that one. Yes, yes."

"Ooooooh! Bluebox!" the natives continued, groveling before him.

"And I must've been impressive, hm? Hoo-hoo-hoo!"

--


	6. No Solicitors

_What if Ian and Barbara were not only unwelcome, but ousted? (prompt 'oust')_

**No Solicitors**

"Out! Get out!" he blustered, coming at them with a walking-stick. He lunged forward. "Ha!"

"Hey, now!" Ian protested. "We meant no harm. We're just making sure she had a safe home…"

"She does! Now get out of it!" the strange old man said. Ian flinched as the stick whizzed past his nose.

"Ian!" Barbara yanked at his sleeve. "We weren't invited …"

"Grandfather!" Susan screamed. "They're my teachers!"

"Not anymore they aren't, not if they're snooping around, following you! Out!" Ian and Barbara stumbled back into the darkened junkyard, watching in astonishment as the police-box vanished before their eyes.

-


	7. The Gods Would Like Potatoes Too

_In which the Aztecs give Barbara's reformations a very brief whirl._

**The Gods Would Like Potatoes Too**

The Aztecs give Barbara's reformations a very brief whirl.

"Light the flames," the Aztec priest said, digging his hands into his work. "We have received a sign!"

"What does it mean?" asked the others who respectfully stood nearby.

"That the great goddess Yetaxa will….wait." He held a portion up to the light. "Is that a gizzard? Or is that part the gizzard? Which part do you use for gravy?"

"Gizzard?" asked a warrior. "I thought Yetaxa asked for drumsticks."

"No, it was the warrior, Ian, who wanted drumsticks!" argued another, "And gravy."

"I simply cannot work with this sort of a sacrifice!" the priest said in disgust.

--


	8. Cocoa

_In The Aztecs a shared cup of cocoa signified something more than just a nice treat... Ian, Barbara and One._

**Cocoa**

"Here," Ian said, handing Barbara an ornate cup.

She settled onto her throne, smiling. "I rather like you dressed like that. The beak is becoming."

He made an impatient noise from inside his elaborate headdress. "You're one to talk. Now drink up while it's still warm."

"What is it?"

"Cocoa. The Doctor told me to make you some, he was very particular. So there you go, genuine Aztec-style cocoa prepared by yours truly."

"Very thoughtful," she said. "Have you had any?"

He pulled off his headdress to gallantly accept a sip.

The Doctor snickered happily from behind a column.

--


	9. QuippyTrippy

_Tut-tut, things aren't quite okie-dokey.  
Ben, Polly and One... from the unusual prompt "hugger-mugger."_

**Quippy Trippy**

"Where are we?" Polly asked.

"Rather hush-hush, you'll find out later…" the Doctor dithered.

"You don't have to go all hugger-mugger about it…," she said.

"Don't do what?" asked Ben.

"Hugger-mugger."

The Doctor considered her. "Isn't that poetry? No wait, that's higgledy-piggledy."

"Who calls a poem a higgledy-piggledy?" Ben asked.

"I don't remember…" he said thoughtfully. "All rather helter-skelter, a bit of a mish-mash, just mumbo-jumbo. Come along, let's not dilly-dally."

"Y' didn't answer her," Ben pointed out. "You flip-flopped with some fancy-schmancy yakkity-yak. Where are we?"

"Oh! Walla-Walla! Quite hunky-dory, as they say, Walla-Walla."

Polly shook her head. "Doctor, there's an teeny-weeny, itsy-bitsy problem."

"Eh?"

"That's London."

"Oh fiddle-faddle."

--


	10. Reel to Real

_The prompt 'decrypt' made me think of other things that we all wish might reappear…_

**Reel to Real**

"What're those?"

The man carrying armloads of condemned reels squinted at a label. "Says _Doctor Who_," he shrugged. "Some kid's show."

"As long as it isn't anything important." His manager waved him on.

"Ah! Just the lad I was looking for. Let me help you with that." An old man with a cane was suddenly blocking his way. The surprisingly nimble codger snagged the tins and ran, ducking into an oddly-placed old police-box.

"Wait! Those are BBC property!"

"Hoo-hoo-hoo!" The door closed and it faded away.

The man slumped. "What'll I tell them? It happened _again!"_

--


	11. It Wasn't Meant for You

_Something little that suddenly isn't so little anymore - from Planet of Giants_

**It Wasn't Meant for You**

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ian asked, reaching for her. Insecticide. Who would've thought a little insecticide on her hands could've become such a horror to them?

He couldn't help but remember a school outing they'd been on, a lifetime ago, the one where the insects plagued their picnic attempts so badly he'd stopped at the corner shop for a can of spray.

They'd dropped like flies.

He instinctively reached for her slender hands again, only to have her pull away. "Don't touch me. I'm poisoned!"

Oh Barbara. You can't die. Not like this.

--


	12. Graduation

_Set at the end of The Chase, in which Ian and Barbara took control of the Dalek's time machine to finally return themselves to London._

-

**Graduation**

"We're going home," Barbara smiled, though her hand in Ian's trembled with a dozen unnameable thoughts. He set the time and place, pushing his palm upon the plunger-plate.

"Home," he agreed, not voicing their shared thought, that they might die in the attempt.

Maybe risk-taking and flinging themselves into the unknown had become such a way of life they were numb to how terrified they ought to be.

Or maybe they'd simply finally learned, like their mentor, that Fate was not always fearsome. They'd poked it with a stick and chuckled it its face.

And he was proud of them.


	13. Most Loyal of Friends

_Their years together had brought a special understanding. _

-

**Most Loyal of Friends**

"You're the only one who every truly understood me. Of course you didn't think I would've really left you behind? Of course not, of course not."

His hands closed gently upon familiar softness, smoothing, comforting. The other did not reply, but he could guess their feelings.

"You and I will be fine. No, don't worry. They seem like good people; they helped us get out - though I've never seen a spaceship quite like this one, once we're underway then maybe... That was an odd noise, wasn't it?

Steven looked down into the knowing plastic eyes and held his panda close.


	14. You Only Imagined Her

_Susan isn't at school today, Miss. (prompt 'expunge')_

**You Only Imagined Her**

_-  
_

"She's gone, I tell you. And _he_ is too. They obviously went together."

"But, where? She seemed like such a sensitive child."

"No one knows."

"Surely they can track his TARDIS…"

"It isn't registered under any active protocol; apparently it wasn't known that it still ran."

"That poor girl. So easily frightened…. What happens to her records, then?"

The instructor snorted. "She's already expelled, the files locked. Officially, she's never been here. We mustn't encourage such rebellion, not even in records."

The schoolmistress hugged herself briefly. "A shame."

He frowned. "They're renegades."

She nodded, carefully hardening her features. "Of course."


	15. The Original

_The First Doctor's episodes could sometimes be summarized quite well._

_--_

"Hide!" The Doctor scurried along through the jungle-strewn landscape, whacking plants away with his cane. "No dawdling!"

"Grandfather!" shrieked Susan, tripping over a small root and falling heavily to the ground. "My ankle!"

"Ian!" cried Barbara. "Help me with her!"

Ian doubled back, pulling the limping Susan to her feet. "Come on! The Doctor's probably back at the TARDIS by now." He and Barbara propelled her along between them.

The large palm fronds shook significantly behind them, accompanied by ominous growls. They all turned, expressions of helplessness, horror and determination forming on their faces as…

The screen went black.

_Oooooweeeeeoooooooo….._


	16. This Could Change Everything

**This Could Change Everything**

He wasn't sure how it had happened or even (difficult to admit) when. Somewhere he'd finally realized what Susan had seen long before him (a bit of a shock, so used he had become to the idea of their being alone and yet there it was):

Looking into the eyes of Ian, of Barbara, it wasn't unreasonable primitives reflecting back at him, no. The spark of more than intelligence, the spark of _friendship_ shone there, plain as the nose on his face. And if there were_ friends_ to be had in _humans_, then what? What was his life to become?


	17. All Greek to Me

**All Greek to Me**

_Archimedes is flushed out of hiding. Ian, Susan and Barbara, prompt 'greek alphabet'.  
_

**--  
**

"Look at this wall sign," Susan laughed. "Isn't it funny looking?"

"It's Greek," Barbara said.

Ian tipped his head thoughtfully. "What does it say?"

"How should I know?"

"Well, _you're_ the history teacher, not me. Greek is historical."

"What? Your science is simply _filled_ with Greek prefixes and suffixes. You must know_ something._"

"Yes, but not when it's written in actual Greek," he replied good-humoredly.

Barbara elbowed him. "Let's ask the Doctor. Where's he got to anyway?"

"Eureka!" shrieked a wet, naked Greek man suddenly pelting past them, "Eureka!"

"I'd say it means 'This way to the Baths'" Ian grinned.


	18. Never Empty for Long

**Never Empty for Long**

_It's a bit like collecting cats. First Doctor, at the end of 'The War Machines,' Ben and Polly implied. (prompt: comfort)  
_

_--  
_

He was alone.

How long had it been? Even back before Susan had … well, it had been a long time, since he'd been alone. They'd all fallen away from him, all of them - and now even Dodo.

The Doctor paused by his TARDIS, taking in the London street; people going about their business, with places to go, friends and family to meet… He harrumphed to himself.

Well. He had places to go _too._ Alone.

Or so he thought.

A rush of footsteps on the pavement, hushed voices, the door pushed opened behind him.

He smiled. Then again, maybe not!

--


	19. Very Cultured

**Very Cultured**

_Some things are better when they aren't homemade._

"What is it?" Barbara held her nose, recoiling from the mass in the tub. "Is it alive?"

Ian wiped watering eyes. "I'm not sure, but it's certainly…"

"Pungent?" the Doctor supplied. "Yes, it does tend to exude a most definite, eh, _aroma_ in this state of development. Most definite."

"Development? What, it isn't _evolving_ or anything?"

The Doctor sniffed. "Evolving? Merely progressing on its life cycle."

"Life cycle?" Barbara tried not to breathe any more than she had to.

"Yes, yes. On its native planet it's called _xaquarkquu,_ or was it _xaquarkqy_…?"

"And in English?"

"Yoghurt. Quite palatable with fruit."

--

_A/N: My mother had a yoghurt-maker in the 70s...it took an entire jar of jam stirred in to make it at all edible. I wouldn't eat even storebought yoghurts for some time after - surely if anything had originated on another planet, it would be that._


	20. My Sun was Always Setting

_For John Elliott, who requested Barbara with Susan being 'alien'. There's no sky like that of your childhood._

_--  
_

**My Sun was Always Setting**

The girl was in the library again. Barbara Wright quietly opened the door. "Susan," she called. "It's time to go home. The building is being locked up for the night."

Susan Foreman looked back at her with a detached, strangely dreamy look on her face. "Have you seen the sunset?" she asked.

Barbara frowned, but joined her by the window. "Very pretty," she observed.

"The colours here are so different," Susan said softly. "I do like the blue. But the orange of the sunset…"

Miss Wright looked askance at her faraway eyes, curious. "Yes?"

"It makes me so very _homesick_."

--


	21. Hold Me

_Barbara and Ian, making it through the adventure together. Prompt 'tremor'._

**Hold Me**

She watched as he faced down hostile men, protected her from the elements, stood between her and oncoming alien forces, shielded her eyes from horrors unspoken. He was always steady, the rock she depended upon in this strange universe they wandered.

He watched as she faced down those who challenged her authority to stop sacrifices, watched her bravely pace into dangers unknown, her head held high, her hand always ready to steady, help and comfort the younger ones under their care in this strange universe they wandered.

It was only when they were alone. They held one another and trembled.


	22. Definitely the Water

_Oh yes, that's it...after all, Vicki, you know what those Romans were like. (prompt 'twitterpated')_

**Definitely the Water**

"I don't know what's gotten into those two," Vicki complained. "They seemed like such sensible people until just lately."

"Why do you say that?" the Doctor asked distractedly. He twiddled a knob on the console and _hmmed_ to himself. "Are they ill?"

"No. But I wonder if there might have been something in the water at that Roman villa, Doctor."

He glanced over. "Why, what are the symptoms, child?"

"Giggling," she said decidedly. "Playing with each other's hair. And they never want me around anymore! Is it serious?"

"Oh yes, I should think so," he chuckled. "Yes, very serious indeed."


	23. O That Look

_Steven and Dodo, prompt 'fashion'. There's nothing like home, even if home is tacky._

**O That Look**

. . .

"What're you looking for, anyway?" Steven asked reasonably. "There's no one here but me and the Doctor. We don't care what you look like."

"Thanks."

"I didn't mean…"

"Don't you ever get _tired_ of other times?" Dodo waded into the wardrobe, pushing aside exotic furs and starched petticoats, kicking aside disordered heaps of laced-up leather, rubbery vests and embroidered overtunics.

"Well… not really."

"Ah!" She grabbed a garish outfit emblazoned with a giant O. "Now _this_ looks like home."

Steven shook his head as she added the hat. "If _that's_ what your home looks like, I'm surprised you miss it."


End file.
